‘Political Spectrum’ Category

Numerous national political commentators such as Zakaria Fareed, Tim Rutten and Mortimer Zuckerman have suggested that the United States’ reign as the world’s number one superpower is coming to a close. Do you agree? What will America’s role be in this century? One can view the health of America as a glass half empty or a glass half full. The glass half empty is that America’s role on the world stage is over. Consider the venality of our leaders in politics, media, and business; the unbridled hedonism of consumers; the ignorance of the bread-and-circuses masses; a Republican President saying we need- ed to destroy capitalism to save it; the mistaking of the last presidential election for an episode of American Idol. The can-do American spirit is declining, we think. The America that provided moral, economic, and military leader- ship for decades is collapsing under its own obese, self-centered success. Many in the world are becoming afraid, thinking “If America declines, what happens to us? Who protects us from the growing strength of China, or the stifling repression of jihad?” Mindless bureaucracies running our schools are assaulting our children for the most minor infractions in the name of “zero tolerance.” The …

Numerous national political commentators such as Zakaria Fareed, Tim Rutten and Mortimer Zuckerman have suggested that the United States’ reign as the world’s number one superpower is coming to a close. Do you agree? What will America’s role be in this century? Growing up as I did, the son of a member of the United States military, I have given this question a lot of thought over the years. The truth is, even as military brats in the 1970s, we would debate the question in school, wondering what it meant to be a superpower in the modern world. The current pack of GOP presidential candidates are doing what Republicans have done best in recent years — making people afraid. Because not only does Barack Obama want to turn America into another Europe (you know, the place where they are instituting austerity pro- grams that are the dreams of most conservatives, and failing badly at it) but he is also making our nation into some third- world backwater, a place only fit for illegal immigrants to come and have babies. Former candidate Michelle Bachmann claimed that Obama’s leadership has pushed us close to losing our role as a superpower, which she …

The 2012 presidential election will be the first since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, allowing large organizations such as unions and corporations to contribute an unlimited amount of funds to promote candidates and issues. How do you think this will affect the outcome of the race? It’s possible the Citizens United decision will bring some advertising dollars to the table, but results are hard to predict. The free political speech absolutes of the First Amendment were the primary focus of the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, when it said the First Amendment applied to organizations voicing political opinions. Such organizations had been hampered by the 2002 McCain-Feingold Act’s as- sault on the First Amendment, assaults through regulation that the Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in Citizens United, called “censorship.” Trying to decide who may be unworthy of political speech because they are an or- ganization or are too rich, is blatantly un- constitutional, the Court said. Opponents of the Citizens United decision like to say that it benefits “corporations,” raising the image of powerful oil and pharmaceutical companies using their mega-dollars to subvert the democratic process. But the Citizens United decision is aimed …

The 2012 presidential election will be the first since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, allowing large organizations such as unions and corporations to contribute an unlimited amount of funds to promote candidates and issues. How do you think this will affect the outcome of the race? I once wrote a short story about a fu- ture America in which people voted not for politicians, but rather the corporation they trusted they most to run the country.

​In your opinion, what were the most significant political events of 2011? While Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was probably the single biggest political news event of 2011, three other things provided an ongoing political backdrop to the year. ​They were 1) the continued Obama administration attempts to remake America, 2) the up-and-down gyrations of Republican presidential candidates, and 3) the continuing change of Arkansas into a genuine, two-party state.

​In your opinion, what were the most significant political events of 2011? I have been reading the views of others this December, and everyone seems to be pretty well-agreed that the top stories this year revolve around the Fukushima meltdown; the shooting of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords; the death of Osama bin Laden; the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell; and Occupy Wall Street. Okay, fair enough.

By Richard S. Drake — I’ll be up-front and admit that Barack Obama has never been never liberal enough for my liking, despite all of the hysterical hand-wringing about “activist judges” and “over-regulation” stifling America’s fabled job creators.